Sonic the Hedgehog 4, episode 1 has been one of the funnest games I’ve played on PSN. Sonic 4 stuck to the tried and true 2D nature of Sonic games, allowing me to relive the glory days of my youth. Sadly, episode 1 skipped Android when it made its way to mobile platforms, with only iOS users being able to enjoy the game.

Today, SEGA has announced they are hard at work on Episode 2, and will be launching the game on NVIDIA Tegra devices early next year. Like many of the other Tegra-exclusive games being released of late, there will be a souped-up, graphically-intense version coming to quad core Tegra 3 devices that take advantage of NVIDIA’s improved architecture. Currently, only the ASUS Transformer Prime features Tegra 3, but we expect a barrage of Tegra 3 devices will be unveiled at CES 2012 in a few weeks.

As resident tech geeks who came of age in the Sonic days, we’re obviously excited to check out the latest installment of the Sonic franchise for our Android phones and tablets. We’ll be sure to let you know when you can get your hands on the release. In the mean time, watch the trailer video below (via Droid Gamers), and if you’re a big Sonic fan you should probably check out Sonic CD (if you haven’t already).

Get Ready to Run in the New Year! SEGA Announces Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II

New Entry in the Smash-Hit Sonic 4 Series Speeds onto Consoles and Mobile in 2012

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON– December 30, 2011 – SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced a new year’s resolution that’s sure to please gamers worldwide: the iconic blue hedgehog will be making his 2D return in Sonic the Hedgehogâ„¢ 4 Episode II in 2012. Following the award-winning success ofEpisode I, which took the world by storm in 2010, Sonic will continue his journey through the epic Sonic 4 saga on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®Network, as well as mobile platforms including the App Store, Android Market and Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone 7.

Fans have been eagerly anticipating the next episode in Sonic’s new side-scrolling adventure, and SEGA has been listening closely to their feedback. Armed with all-new character animations and a completely reworked physics engine, Episode II will expand the Sonic 4 storyline with new areas to speed through and new challenges to face. For a sneak peek at what’s in store, including the arrival of a certain high-flying, twin-tailed pal who’s sure to be of assistance, check out the all-new teaser trailer here.

“After twenty years in action, it’s clear that Sonic hasn’t slowed down one bit,” said Haruki Satomi, Senior Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA of America. “The first entry in the Sonic 4 saga was a major success. We’ve listened to the fans and been hard at work making sure we recapture that same spirit of fun in Episode II. We hope the fans will enjoy it.”

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2 will support Android mobile devices powered by the NVIDIA® Tegra® mobile processor. It will be available on the Android Market and featured on the Tegra Zone app. In addition, SEGA and NVIDIA are working closely together to develop an even more enhanced version for Tegra 3, the world’s first quad-core mobile processor.

Nintendo has nothing to gain at this point by making any of their titles available for iOS or Android. Once you can get Mario on either, the 3DS becomes even more of a niche product, and the new Wii loses one of it’s major cool features.

Much more likely to see Nintendo continue to cultivate an “unofficial” market for the NES emulators out there to keep their tech folks current in case market shifts require them to make a quick switch at some point.

This actually borderline ticks me of…it frustrates me when a developer makes a game exclusive to phones with a certain kind of processor. I bought the Droid Bionic in gold faith, understanding that it was the latest, greatest phone of it’s time. I never dreamed of having incompatibility issues just because the phone has a TI processor and not an Nvidia one. If developers are going to continue releasing exclusive titles like this then the phone manufacturers need to start advertising what processor the phone is using instead of some action-packed movie-like sequence that tells you little to nothing about the phone itself! Curse yoh Motorola! :P

none of the gameloft games work on my transformer prime! is there any way i can get them to work? i’ve tried sideloading but that didn’t work. if i could find the tegra 2 version would it work on a tegra 3 device?

It’s nice to see some of the classicis being brought to Andriod. This article prompted me to check the market for some of my old arcade favorites just out of curiosity. I was surprised to find both Crazy Climber and Dragon’s Lair are available in the market!

I was never much of a console gamer in the 90′s. I sucked at Mario, but Sonic was my best friend! I eagerly await this game for my transformer prime. I’m gonna hook it up to the television and slap on a bluetooth controller and be a kid again.. thanks SEGA!

As someone who grew up with Sonic, I found Sonic 4 to be a horrible mess. Graphically it was impressive, but there was no momentum, so it felt nothing like the old Sonic 2D games. I’m not sure how anyone could have enjoyed it, unless you had never played the originals. The levels past the first were also quite uninspired. Hoping the feedback from the first is listened to by the devs for the sequel.

Nintendo has nothing to gain at this point by making any of their titles available for iOS or Android. Once you can get Mario on either, the 3DS becomes even more of a niche product, and the new Wii loses one of it’s major cool features.

Much more likely to see Nintendo continue to cultivate an “unofficial” market for the NES emulators out there to keep their tech folks current in case market shifts require them to make a quick switch at some point.

This actually borderline ticks me of…it frustrates me when a developer makes a game exclusive to phones with a certain kind of processor. I bought the Droid Bionic in gold faith, understanding that it was the latest, greatest phone of it’s time. I never dreamed of having incompatibility issues just because the phone has a TI processor and not an Nvidia one. If developers are going to continue releasing exclusive titles like this then the phone manufacturers need to start advertising what processor the phone is using instead of some action-packed movie-like sequence that tells you little to nothing about the phone itself! Curse yoh Motorola! :P

none of the gameloft games work on my transformer prime! is there any way i can get them to work? i’ve tried sideloading but that didn’t work. if i could find the tegra 2 version would it work on a tegra 3 device?

It’s nice to see some of the classicis being brought to Andriod. This article prompted me to check the market for some of my old arcade favorites just out of curiosity. I was surprised to find both Crazy Climber and Dragon’s Lair are available in the market!

I was never much of a console gamer in the 90′s. I sucked at Mario, but Sonic was my best friend! I eagerly await this game for my transformer prime. I’m gonna hook it up to the television and slap on a bluetooth controller and be a kid again.. thanks SEGA!

As someone who grew up with Sonic, I found Sonic 4 to be a horrible mess. Graphically it was impressive, but there was no momentum, so it felt nothing like the old Sonic 2D games. I’m not sure how anyone could have enjoyed it, unless you had never played the originals. The levels past the first were also quite uninspired. Hoping the feedback from the first is listened to by the devs for the sequel.